Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Summer in November !!!!

I wore a T shirt today .......so what you might ask ? I cannot recall the last time that I went out walking across the fields during the middle of November without my fleece. I was not alone in enjoying the unexpected warmth as there were numerous Red Admiral butterflies flitting about along the hedgerows looking splendid in the sunshine . There were many other winged insects about providing a welcome food source for the birds.The hedgerows laden with their fruit are a magnet for huge numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings as they are busy gorging themselves. This afternoon I felt as if I was caught in a blizzard of birds as these Fieldfares decided to fly out of the hedgerows and onto the soggy fields to feed on the worms etc. At times I could have reached out and touched these birds and their chattering was quite deafening.Birds seen below Hanging Houghton today included a pair of Stonechat, Barn Owl and a Short Eared Owl following the ditch along.Now that the Vulcan has come to the end of her flying life and the Blades put away in their hangar for the winter the skies are pretty empty and quiet. However today I heard the very distinctive low thumping noise of the Chinook helicopter and infact they came right over my head on three occassions . Firstly they literally came over the garden then twice over the valley below Hanging Houghton. They were low and I felt compelled to wave at them whilst the dogs just looked, one of them would have liked to have given chase !!!. Goodness only knows what the crew thought to me and my woofs .Regards Eleanor